Wed. AM-PM TNT News Articles from Iraq 6-7-23

TNT

Tishwash:
Within hours.. an “important” meeting to resolve the passage of the budget in the presence of the Sudanese – Urgent

The coordination framework, which brings together the Shiite political forces, will hold an important meeting today, Wednesday, in the presence of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, in order to resolve the passage of the budget law, tomorrow, Thursday, in the Iraqi parliament.

An informed source told “Baghdad Today” that “the leaders of the coordination framework will hold an important meeting in the coming hours with the participation of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani in the office of the leader of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Hadi al-Amiri, in the center of the capital, Baghdad, in order to put the final touches on the budget law before voting on it on the day of Tomorrow, Thursday, members of the Parliamentary Finance Committee from the Coordinating Framework blocs will also participate in the upcoming meeting.

The source, who asked not to be named, added that “the meeting comes after a round of dialogues and negotiations with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and an agreement to amend some paragraphs related to the Kurdistan region within the budget law.”  link

Iraq expands electronic payment outlets “pos”

Iraq is gradually moving towards expanding the electronic payment process (POS) through a plan prepared in advance, to spread the electronic payment culture in force in most countries of the world, while the local markets witnessed a wide spread of these devices. 

The Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Communications, Planning, Higher Education and the Environment, in addition to the Amanat Baghdad, launched the electronic payment service, while the Central Bank started increasing POS devices and distributing them in shops, markets and commercial centers, hoping that the rest of the state institutions would join successively.

Haider Majeed, spokesman for the General Secretariat, stressed the importance of the electronic payment system, noting that this system will facilitate transactions for more than 4 million employees and retirees. Majeed told (Al-Sabah): “The purpose of the (pos) system is to facilitate cash transactions, because Iraq lagged far behind the rest of the countries in this field,” and added that “it will contribute to facilitating cash transactions and preserving funds from loss, damage, forgery, and theft, in addition to To provide banking facilities,” noting that “the money will be secured to a very high degree, which is what merchants need in their financial dealings.”   link

Economic: Legislation of the oil and gas law has become binding on the government and parliament

Economic expert Diaa Mohsen confirmed, on Tuesday, that the executive authorities represented by the government and the legislative in the House of Representatives must approve the oil and gas law during the current session of the House of Representatives.

Mohsen said in an interview with Al-Maalouma, that “the delay in approving the budget contributed to the failure to achieve justice and distribution among the governorates, in addition to delaying government programs and projects,” pointing out that “the constitution emphasized that the Management of oil wealth should be by the central government because it belongs to the people.”

He added, “It has become necessary to oblige the legislative and executive authorities to pass the oil and gas law and make it a priority for the laws placed on the table of the Presidency of the House of Representatives and the heads of political blocs.”

He pointed out that “approving the oil and gas law will contribute to solving many problems, including delaying the approval of annual budgets, achieving justice for all, and cutting off oil smuggling and selling it to boycotting countries, such as the Zionist entity.”

Mohsen pointed out, “The delay in approving the federal budget annually is caused by differences between the region and the center, by not approving oil and gas.”

The Oil and Gas Law has been awaiting legislation in the House of Representatives since 2005, which stipulates that the responsibility for managing oil fields in Iraq must be entrusted to a national oil company, which is exclusively supervised by Baghdad.  link

Report: Saudi Aramco is seeking large oil opportunities in Iraq

Saudi Arabia seeks to take advantage of its recent rapprochement with Iran to facilitate investment opportunities in Iraq’s oil and gas sector. But the problem is that ensuring that Iran does not object does not eliminate the existence of obstacles, including Iraq’s readiness to receive major Saudi investments, and the second is the objection of the United States, which views this Saudi entry as a threat to the interests of its companies, according to a report by the London-based Al-Arab newspaper.  

The report, which was followed by “Al-Iqtisad News”, stated that Saudi Aramco possesses sufficient expertise, especially the ability to invest, which makes its projects in Iraq a candidate for implementation according to the exact dates, despite the competition.  

Riyadh concluded a preliminary agreement with Baghdad in order to invest and participate in the development of the Crutch oil field in Anbar Governorate, and to direct the associated gas towards building the Nebras petrochemical project.  

Official estimates specify that Iraq’s proven reserves of conventional natural gas have reached 3.5 trillion cubic meters, or about 1.5 percent of the global total, which places Iraq in 12th rank among the holders of reserves in the world.  

But about three-quarters of Iraq’s total proven reserves consist of associated gas, a by-product that Iraq has been burning for free over the years, rather than using it to generate much-needed domestic power or selling it to generate much-needed revenue.  

Iraq ignites, after Russia, the largest amount of gas in the world, by burning about 17 billion cubic meters in 2022, according to a study conducted by the World Bank.  

Because of the waste of this resource of great importance, Iraq still depends on Iran to provide about 40 percent of its energy needs (through electricity and gas imports), which angered the Americans, who want Baghdad to reduce its relations with Tehran and abide by the sanctions imposed on Iran.  

Iraq faces huge budget problems annually because of this waste, and long periods of power outages, especially during the summer.  

Although Saudi investment in the field of oil and gas gives Iraqis hope for change, pro-Iranian Iraqi officials believe that the gas projects that Iraq seeks to implement through Saudi companies aim to harm Tehran’s interests.  

And after Baghdad’s participation in the “zero routine flaring” initiative of the United Nations and the World Bank, which aims to end gas flaring operations by 2030, Iraq announced the adoption of the same plan three times, without significant effect.  

The latest update of the plan included harnessing a company to invest associated gas in the Gharf and Nasiriyah fields with a capacity of 200 million standard cubic feet per day, in addition to other oil fields north of Basra, with the aim of solving the chronic gas problem.  

Aramco’s development of the Crutch field will serve the same goal of boosting Iraq’s domestic gas supplies. And the Saudi company has the ability to achieve this.  

These factors will allow the overall development of the long-awaited Nebras Petrochemicals project. In January 2015, Royal Dutch Shell signed an agreement with Iraq worth $11 billion to build a petrochemical complex in Basra. The company owns 44 percent of the shares of the Basra Gas Company joint venture, which has a duration of 25 years.  

The project aims to enable Iraq to increase its independence in the field of energy and achieve economic diversification by capturing flared gas from the Rumaila, West Qurna 1 and Zubair fields.  

According to a source working closely with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, who spoke exclusively to the US platform OilPrice, the suspension of this procedure was due to the demand of a number of senior oil officials to pay commissions of about 30 percent of the total cost of the Nebras petrochemical project.  

The potential returns for Nibras remain huge, and Saudi Aramco has the capabilities to achieve them. With Nebras adopting a seed project (just as Saudi Arabia exploited a petrochemical complex project in the Jubail Industrial City), and a sustainable and reliable supply of ethane (usually found in associated gas streams) for at least 20-25 years, Iraq will have to spend about $40-50 billion. .  

But then he will become one of the largest petrochemical producers in the Middle East, and his profits will be higher than his investments.  

Aramco may not face the same difficulties in the Iraqi oil sector as Western companies. Commission payments are standard business practice in the Middle East and are not subject to the same kind of scrutiny as they are in the West. But the problem that you may face in developing the planned Crutch and Nibras projects is the US view on the potential benefits and risks.  

In addition, the shift in Saudi Arabia’s longstanding geopolitical allegiance from the United States to China and Russia is a key feature of the new global oil market order. But America does not intend to make it easier for the kingdom, or for countries in the Middle East that are looking to do the same.  

It is noteworthy that the United States has an additional reason for concern in the case of the Akkas gas field, as it has always considered it a major part of the plan to develop three fields (including the Mansouriya and Siba gas fields).  

These three locations form a triangle across southern Iraq, extending from Mansouriya in the east (very close to the border with Iran) to Siba in the south (very close to Iraq’s main export hub of Basra), and then west through Akkas (close to the border with Syria)   link

Source: Dinar Recaps

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Tishwash:
Iraq Open to the World… and Who’s Making it Happen

From the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC):

Iraq open to the world… and who’s making it happen.

An IBBC conference on June 16th at London’s Mansion House.

 On 16th June IBBC are hosting a significant delegation of Iraq businesses and government officials to the UK, with a strong focus on energy, oil and gas, new infrastructure, and Investment projects.

 As Iraq takes a more internationalist approach to business, trade, culture and diplomatic engagement with their neighbours and the world, the range and nature of projects is opening.

For example, Saudi Arabian investment fund (PIF) is investing $3bn in infrastructure projects, Aramco are discussing Basra oil projects, Shell is finally moving into multibillion dollar petrochemical projects, Total Energies has started work on its huge solar, gas capture and oil extraction deal, ANB are moving into Iraq, Dutch Royal Boskalis investing in an export terminal in Basra and the EBRD are expanding operations in Iraq and the Government are investing $17bn in the development road connecting both the Gulf to Turkey and Europe.

H.E. Dr Haider M. Mekkiyah, Chairman of the National Investment Commission is making s keynote speech outlining the current opportunities for Infrastructure and Investment.

You can attend sessions on finance and energy, from leading international speakers, such as Dunia Chalabi, CEO of Total Energies Iraq, Ali AL Janabi chairman of Shell Iraq, Basra Gas Company, Dr Laith Al Shaher, Deputy Minister of Oil, will give a keynote speech, Standard Chartered, TBI and UKEF, GE, and The Sardar Group, and high-profile speakers on the developing Heritage sector from the British Museum. A Tech session with SAP, Mastercard, Scott Logic and Iraq’s new streaming stars, 1001.

Professor Frank Gunter is launching the IBBC advisory council’s report on Ports and Airport supported by industry leaders and sponsors, Sardar Group, AAA Holding and Hydro-C.

Prof. Hamid Ahmed Khalaf, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Executive Director of the High Committee for Education Developments in Iraq, will attend the conference and take part in the Education Round table discussion chaired by Professor Mohammed Al Uzri. The Iraqi Government has allocated funding for several thousand post graduate scholarships to mostly take place at UK universities of the next 3 years.  Education is one of the strongest growth sectors in the country and now represents the second biggest membership stream within IBBC.

Iraq has world class reserves of oil and gas, and oil exports represent over 90% of its income. The sector is due to vastly expand in coming years with new projects having been agreed in Solar, Oil production, Gas capture and Petrochemicals. It is also under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact and reliance on crude oil revenues.

Under the expert Chairmanship of Dr Luay Al Khateeb, former Electricity Minister, and Founder of the Iraq Energy Academy, our high powered ‘Energy Panel’ will focus on Iraq’s burgeoning Energy sector and how to maximise its potential following international standards and best practices.

Iraq’s heritage is coming a big topic, not just for its commercial value, tourism, and growth, but also for what it signifies about Iraq’s current culture and history. Hear leading experts on Iraq’s heritage.

– Professor John McGinnis, The British Museum /Nimrud Archaeological Trust

– Professor Gamal Abdelmonem, Nottingham Trent University
– Mr Ali Al Makhzomy, Bilweekend

– Dr Rosalind Wade Haddon, British Institute for the Study of Iraq.

– Professor Chris Whitehead, Newcastle University

IBBC is also hosting an exhibition on heritage “Legacies of War and Peace in Iraq: Mosul’s Story of Resistance, Resilience, Recovery and Rise“.

Supporting the new internationalism are initiatives in training, education, and skills, with British Universities and training companies, who are expanding new courses to propel Iraq business skills, including Nottingham Trent University, University of Mosul, University of Leeds, University of Wasit, and Newcastle University.

Baghdad and Basrah are bristling with new developments and the country is regularly hosting large business delegations from around the world. Whilst IBBC co-hosted the first UK Iraq Trade Fair in mid-May, large UAE, Saudi, Japanese business delegations were in Baghdad as well as the largest ever German business delegation with over 30 company delegates.

For a full agenda please click here and to register here

Iraqis are resilient and have always recovered, but now is a golden time.

A diversifying economy. Iraq is still dependent on oil income, and all financial indexes, including income per head and GDP (+4% ’23) are all looking good, with 2022 surplus of over $40bn. Other areas of the economy are expanding off the back of this, especially consumer products, telecoms, education, and tourism. KRG has seen a 30% increase in tourists in 2023, this and other areas of Iraq are projected to grow 10% pa to 2027, Healthcare by 19% pa, food market at 4.13 % (largest growth segment is Confectionery & Snacks), beauty and personal care 6%, Household appliances 5.42%, luxury goods 4%, home laundry care 6%.

A modernising govt. Iraq is finding its confidence and has been active with diplomacy and hosting regional conferences, broking relations between Saudi, Iran, and Turkey, while also stimulating infrastructural development, from oil refineries to dry canal and housing projects, new electricity and renewable energy production, airport, and airline travel facilitation. Making access faster with Visas on arrival and travel between Baghdad Basra and Erbil easier

Stability and security have also paid dividends in Basrah hosting of the Gulf cup which occurred without incident, and the bourgeoning number of tourists at religious and heritage sites.

Still challenges. The international community is still lagging in its view of Iraq, as international travel caution remains from US, EU and UK, and corruption is still prevalent, but on both counts, things are improving as the country moves towards international standards.

Come and meet the key international businesses and officials at our conference on June 16th, including over 20 private Iraqi banks, where we are exploring these themes with energy companies, educational panels, heritage, tech, infrastructure, the KRG, and significant investment and finance panels.  link

Source: Dinar Recaps

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